


Six Degrees of Speculation

by sebviathan



Series: in between the lines (there's a lot of obscurity) [5]
Category: Psych
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode Tag, M/M, POV Multiple, s03e11 Lassie Did a Bad Bad Thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 14:19:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5702749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sebviathan/pseuds/sebviathan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Yeah, you're right. The whole idea is crazy. I mean—<i>us</i>? Lovers?"</p><p>"Glad you agree."</p><p>"It's ridiculous."</p><p>"No one would have ever believed it."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Six Degrees of Speculation

**Author's Note:**

> I don't want to insult anyone's intelligence, but just in case it doesn't seem clear enough, everything in between the line breaks are essentially flashbacks, though no singular person is actually having them.
> 
> It would probably make much more sense cinematically, so think of this like a revised end to the episode.
> 
> (btw, the title is a play on the movie/play/theory 'six degrees of separation')

Considering the goose egg that's visibly formed on Shawn's head by now (not to mention the fact that he was hit hard enough to pass out not too long beforehand), he would do much better at home, or otherwise simply relaxing and recovering.

But protocol is protocol, as much as Carlton himself believes it could probably wait.

After giving their individual official statements to Internal Affairs, the two of them are sat down in Vick's office, side by side, to explain the whole thing.

Shawn can't help but notice that Lassiter seems incredibly stoic despite the situation.

Carlton can't help but internally relive the terror he felt less than an hour ago, when he thought Spencer might get shot. (In _his_ apartment, too. On his couch. He'd have had to get rid of all of it, move somewhere else immediately.)

Shawn can't help but focus a little harder until he notices that, too.

The department has temporarily confiscated anything and everything that counts as evidence in this case, though by this point it's fairly open and shut. No one doubts him anymore, but it's on the safe side, so he gets it. They both do.

Either way it's only the gun that he used to shoot Drimmer, the gun that Drimmer _almost_ shot Shawn with, and... the fake suicide note.

Until now even Shawn didn't quite realize that it was pre-written and forged in Lassiter's handwriting, rather than a blank piece of paper that Drimmer was going to force him to write the note on. And now that he thinks about it, that makes much more sense, but he's not focused on that so much as just... staring at it.

They both do.

"Frankly, Lassiter—as well as he managed to copy your handwriting," Vick tells him, "I don't know if I would have believed a word of it. It doesn't read anything like your usual tone, and... well. Luckily we don't have to think about it. Now, this essentially works as a written confession for Drimmer's attempt—"

"Actually, Chief," Shawn starts abruptly, sitting up straight. "I, uh, haven't really had a chance to read it yet, and I feel like since I nearly got killed—"

"Go ahead, Mr. Spencer." She passes it to him with somewhat of an amused smirk, and Carlton almost shamelessly leans in to get a closer look as he opens it.

 

 _I confess, it was me. I killed Chavez in the holding cell, and I killed Loggins, too, and I don't care who knows anymore because if you're reading this, I'm dead._  
_I was planning on keeping the charade up, I really was. But then Shawn, in the middle of trying to find evidence to help me, realized I was genuinely guilty. And he seemed to think that if he came to me with it I might turn myself in, which, now, I wish I could have brought myself to do. Because instead I got scared and I shot him, and now he's dead, and I can't take the guilt._  
_Chavez and Loggins, sure, that was nothing off my conscience_ _—_ _they're criminals. But Shawn and I HAD something and it only ever ended because he was afraid to go public and I didn't want to play games. I ended it but I didn't stop loving him. Now I'm paying for it.  
_ _Goodbye._

_\- Carlton Lassiter_

 

"...Wow."

"He really went hard on the details there, didn't he?"

Carlton just coughs.

"What I don't get," Shawn adds, "is why he felt the need to go for the whole _former_ lovers thing as opposed to us currently being lovers. I mean, I feel like with our dynamic it wouldn't make much of a difference, Lassie still would have shot me—I mean, _this_ version of Lassie would. But where is he getting this narrative? How long did he spend thinking about this?"

"He's _crazy_ , Spencer, we've been over this." Though Carlton can't help but wonder the same thing, as well as feel some sense of relief that Spencer doesn't believe he'd ever really shoot him. "It's just—like I said, called misinformation. It's _ridiculous_ to begin with, it doesn't need to be realistic."

 

* * *

 

***

"Aw, I don't know, Lassiter's up there and... he's in a mood."

Buzz figures he's watching out for Shawn's safety more than anything (because when Lassiter's pissed he may as well be a dragon roasting anything in its path), but then the man in question turns around, grabs a coffee from the other guy (Gabe? Gus?), and smiles.

"Yeah, we just, ah—we got his coffee," Shawn tells him. "Wanted to bring it by, make it right."

"Oh that's... nice of you." _Make it right?_ "He asked me to get it, but—"

Shawn gives him a look and it all suddenly makes a lot more sense to Buzz—he's what got Lassiter in the mood in the first place, and now he's apologizing with coffee. _That's kinda cute._

Whatever it is Shawn did, he better let him be the one to fix it.

"But this is perfect," Buzz finishes, grinning and letting him through the crime scene tape immediately.

He hopes this means Lassiter's finally gotten over his ex-wife and found someone again.

 

*

 

Karen is fairly used to Spencer's unconventional methods by now, extravagant visions and all, but sometimes (almost always when Lassiter is in the room), they can border on... inappropriate.

This is one of those times.

She's sure she can't be the only one stiffening up a bit while he frantically gasps in his seat, as though whatever he's scribbling down is taking a great deal of energy, but sounding much more like he's doing something else.

When Lassiter reads what Spencer's written, a couple things fall into place.

"' _To Lassie: On the Alpine highway of life, you're my all-weather tires. H &K's, Shawn._'—What the hell is this?"

"H&K's stands for hugs and kisses," O'Hara tells him, putting on a dopey smile like she's going through the same thought process as Karen.

As the Chief, however, she opts for keeping a straight face.

It's not exactly unprofessional that she insists Lassiter join Spencer (and O'Hara) on this speed-dating lead, though she might be a little more hopeful about this than she should be. And the smile she flashes between them as she gives the order may be a little too telling.

(Or just telling enough, considering the way Spencer snaps his head over to look at him.)

"It's just a date, Lassiter," Karen says, feeling sort of like a mother setting up her kid. "You do know how to conduct yourself on a date, don't you?"

For a moment she looks back to the resident psychic, who she's sure knows the answer to that.

 

*

 

She would recognize that voice anywhere (plus, no one but Shawn even ever calls her _Jules_ ), but it's hard enough to believe that she doesn't quite do so until Lassiter confirms.

" _You're_ having lunch with Shawn?" Her face breaks out into a grin, and then her partner's tentative answer comes through the other line:

"...Maybe."

Then her face drops as it occurs to her that there might be something much more serious—

"Is something going on?"

"Look, do you have the toxicology reports or not?"

The fact that he avoided the question draws up a lot more, but she doesn't push it further until it's clear that she's been put on speakerphone, and that wherever they are, they're both listening.

" _Why_ are you sharing information with Shawn on a case we haven't hired him for?" she asks, pretty sure that her suspicions are clear in her voice. Exactly what she expects or even wants to hear, however, she has no idea.

But why _else_ would those two be going to lunch together in secret, and why else would Lassiter of all people share details on a case with _anyone_?

Instead of an answer, he very obviously pretends to be getting low reception all of a sudden, fakes some static, and hangs up.

Juliet gapes just slightly at the department phone for a moment before hanging up as well, then laughs to herself and returns to work on the case. She doesn't know what she'd rather believe, but she figures she might as well leave it alone until one or both of them find the guts to admit something.

 

*

 

Maybe he judged Carlton a little too harshly. That Spencer kid, too—he's cleverer than he looks (and acts), and he might have been the reason he was wrongly accused in the first place, but hell if he didn't pull through and bring Holmstrom some real justice.

Maybe he was, in fact, wrong about Carlton being bad for his daughter.

Though with the end of the Spencer kid's speech after Downs gets arrested, that doesn't seem to matter anymore.

"And none of this, your Highmost, would have been discovered without the intrepid police work of one Detective Carlton Lassiter, Santa Barbara Police Department's own... highmost patriarch."

There's pride in his voice and on his face. And as he leaves, he takes a very distinct moment to smack Carlton on the ass.

Now, Irving can't be sure if that means the same thing as it did in his day (especially since _two men_ never would have been able to be public like that in his day), but one thing seems pretty clear to him regardless:

Carlton won't be his son-in-law too much longer.

 

*

 

This Spencer kid is a pain in the ass—of course, Cameron understands exactly why: only child, too many expectations placed on him by his cop father, has developed a tendency to make jokes in serious situations as a coping mechanism. Not to mention he has a friend in that bank, so it's only natural he's taking this personally.

But he's also far too used to getting exactly what he wants by means of simple charm and his little "psychic" party trick, so as far as Cameron is concerned, he's just a brat.

Meanwhile Lassiter is oddly more on edge than he's ever seen him before, and he can't quite figure out why. If he didn't know better, he would say this hostage situation is personal to _him_ as well, but that guy doesn't seem the type to ever take personal cases.

And then that idiot Spencer gets taken as a new hostage, at which he flips and figures that if this _wasn't_ personal to Lassiter before, it likely is now.

(He can tell by the way he stiffens up, and the stance he takes. He also decides not to say anything quite yet.)

When Spencer makes it out of the bank, it becomes more obvious by the second:

"Alright, put him in a holding bin. I want to debrief him—"

"No-no- _no_ way, Luntz, this is _our_ guy. Any debriefing is gonna be done by us." (Stuttering, too much emphasis, an immediate grip on Spencer's arm.)

"No, this is _my_ investigation," Cameron shoots back, grabbing Spencer's other arm.

"Well—guys, guys!" the man in the middle throws in, "I appreciate you arguing over me, but let me just point out... I'm not wearing briefs." ( _Could_ just be a joke, but with two innuendos thrown in?)

Then Chief Vick, from behind him, gets his attention—

"Commander Luntz, Mr. Spencer is in _our_ department, so we'll debrief him first. But we'll share any information that we gather."

That's fair enough, but before he even has a chance to say so, Lassiter glares at him and jerks Spencer away.

"Hands off."

 _There_ it is.

The arm that Lassiter puts around him as he escorts him away (keeping one on the arm closest to him, thus holding him as close as possible without being uncomfortably intimate, so _very_ obviously possessive) is a plus.

Cameron only watches them for a moment and then turns back to the Chief with a smirk.

"Didn't think you of all people would be okay with inter-office dating, Vick."

She raises an eyebrow like she doesn't know what he's talking about, but doesn't say anything to argue, either.

(Which probably means she agrees—if those two aren't dating, they definitely want to be.)

***

 

* * *

 

Shawn laughs and something about it, for a split second, seems pained. (Carlton won't let himself say for sure, though.)

"Yeah, you're right. The whole idea is crazy. I mean— _us_? Lovers?"

"Glad you agree."

"It's ridiculous."

"No one would have ever believed it."

"Right? Who was Drimmer trying to fool?"

They avoid meeting each other's gaze as Shawn folds the note back up and returns it to Chief Vick, and continue to do so for the next twenty minutes before they're free to go. It feels so long and deliberate that the both of them (unbeknownst to the other) feel some kind of fear that they'll never look each other in the eye again—

Until something overcomes Carlton right as they leave Vick's office, and he grabs Shawn by the arm.

"Hey... the next time your life is in my hands, Spencer, I'd appreciate it if you try _not_ to aggravate the person pointing a gun at your head."

For a moment Shawn's eyes are wide and alert, and then they relax. And his lips stretch into a smile.

"I could try, but it would go against my nature, Lass," he says, and Carlton frowns. "Besides, I thought you liked swooping in and saving my life?"

The smirk he flashes, then, makes Carlton's heart jump. He wants to be angry, and he _is_ (because Spencer has to know exactly what he puts him through every time he does something mortally stupid), but more than anything he's still just... relieved.

And he's made himself perfectly open to be teased about "caring about" him, and yet Spencer hasn't said a thing. So Carlton decides he ought to leave while he's ahead.

"Get some sleep, Spencer."

With that he lets his hand slide off the man's arm and walks off, leaving Shawn to smile to himself for a second before walking in the other direction.

 

*

 

Not too far away, Buzz watches and feels a spark of hope for the two of them.

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone who isn't clear what episode each of the flashbacks are from:
> 
> Buzz - 1x05 9 Lives  
> Vick - 1x11 He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, oops he's dead  
> Juliet - 2x14 Dis-lodged  
> Irving (Victoria's dad) - 2x14 Dis-lodged  
> Cameron Luntz - 3x08 Gus Walks Into a Bank


End file.
